iTunes Editors’ Notes

“Werewolves of London” surely paid Warren Zevon’s rent for years and in 1978 briefly made this mischievous songwriter a genuine rock star. However, Zevon should never be mistaken for a one-hit wonder. His song catalog is jammed with suspicious characters and lonely hearts, compact yet complex observations delivered with a deceptive ease by Zevon’s deep, unfancy vocals and the smooth musical perfection of L.A.’s top session musicians. Excitable Boy was his second album for Asylum (an earlier collection from 1969, Wanted Dead or Alive, is his official debut, but not characteristic of his later work) and features several key tracks that would come to define the man. “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner,” the title track and “Lawyers, Guns and Money” are tightly-wound psycho sketches where rape and murder come with the family dinner smeared on his chest. The black humor and sense of the bizarre potentially overshadow Zevon’s sensitive side, which is beautifully laid out in the majestic heartbreak of “Accidentally Live A Martyr” and the cultural imperialism of “Veracruz.” The 2007 reissue includes four outtakes. Zevon’s vocals are undermixed on the looser alternate take of “Werewolves of London,” while “Tule’s Blues” and “Frozen Notes” are mournful piano tunes that tend towards Zevon’s serious side.

Customer Reviews

One of the 70's great albums!!

by
jrm082659

This record found Warren in top songwriting from, from the kitzchiness of "werewolves of London" the heartbreaking "Accidentally like a Marty", to the downright quirky fun of "Johnny Strikes Up the Band", "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". This cd is the core that every Zevon fan's catalog should be based around. The production is excellent, the musicianship tight, and the songs compelling each and every one. Probably his best full album in his career, though there were certainly highlights along the way-and some especially poignant moments in his final release " The Wind". If you are wondering what all the fuss was about-here it is. Have fun with it.

Great album

by
The Crazy Diamond

Warren Zevon is one of the most under rated artists out there. I don't understand that, I think he sounds great. In fact' this is probably one of the best albums from the 70s. Its all good, buy it.

Sooooo Good!

by
Citizen Zane

I found this album in the most unlikely of places, my dad's old record collection. I gotta say, WOW! This is one of the best albums i've ever heard, I place Zevon on the highest pillar alongside other great singer/songwriters like Cat Stevens, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Warren Zevon is poet with a darkside and a sense of humor, Songs like Excitable Boy, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner and Werewolves of London are absolute classics and should not be missed.
Buy this album, it is worth every penny and you will not be dissipointed.

Biography

Born: January 24, 1947 in Chicago, IL

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s

Few of rock & roll's great misanthropes were as talented, as charming, or as committed to their cynicism as Warren Zevon. A singer and songwriter whose music often dealt with outlaws, mercenaries, sociopaths, and villains of all stripes, Zevon's lyrics displayed a keen and ready wit despite their often uncomfortable narrative circumstances, and while he could write of love and gentler emotions, he did so with the firm conviction that such stories rarely end happily. Though he frequently worked...